Cold Gold
We grant good marks for an ad that thinks outside the icebox.
It's rare that you stumble onto true originality in
advertising headlines today, so a little awe—if not
applause—is in order for the ad being highlighted this
month.
It comes from famed Amana Appliances in Amana, Iowa, and earns
an A+ for the utterly unexpected, sensorial headline, "I'm
the designated MILK SMELLER in my house." It almost induces an
involuntary whiff at the sight of it. That's worth a bonus for
the copywriter who conceived it, because it breaks through the
clutter of predictability so prevalent in advertising today. Even
more, it breaks the rule that says all headlines must have, or
imply, a benefit to the reader.
So now
that I've swooned and gushed over this iconic set of words,
some questions need to be asked: Does it really do the hard job of
selling the product? Does it get attention and then evoke interest
in buying? On the first criterion, yes, big-time. Causing a
typically indifferent, desensitized reader to come to a halt on any
given ad is at least 60 percent of the assignment. But after that,
the body copy must take the baton and move the reader down the path
to purchase. On that score, it also gets high marks, with an
amusing take on a spousal ineptitude, well, to wit:
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"My husband gets this terrified look on his face, holds out
the carton and says, 'Honey, do you think it's bad?' I
say, 'I don't know, dear, smell it.' 'No, really,
do you think it's bad?' This can go on for 20 minutes.
Lucky for us, the people at Amana invented a special compartment on
the inside of the fridge door. It keeps milk 5 degrees colder so it
stays fresh longer. It's sort of a fridge inside a fridge. Now
if I can only get him to stop putting back the empty cartons."
What you should take away from this ad and apply to your own
efforts is clear: Start thinking outside the crayon lines of
conventional promotion.
You would think that every fridge-ad idea in the universe would
have already been concocted, yet this one broke new ground. How? By
drawing on personal experience. And by bravely departing from
conventional icebox ads that generally just list features and
benefits. You'd be surprised how many similarly original ideas
lie waiting for you—outside your office.
Jerry Fisher is a
freelance advertising copywriter and author of Creating
Successful Small Business Advertising.